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Who Is Gottfried Helnwein ?by Marlies Claassen
When I was working on my article of the HIStory album I came across the name Gottfried Helnwein. I had never heard of this man.
I found out that he was the man behind these pictures. Knowing the songs, seeing these pictures, I was intrigued by it. So I wondered “Who Is Gottfried Helnwein?”
Well, Gottfried Helnwein was born in Vienna on October 8, 1948. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media. The central theme in his work is the human being. As a victim, but also as a perpetrator. Especially the child is a recurring motif in his work.
Children are, according to Helnwein, the victims of injustice and violence in our society. He portrays them as being injured and mutilated, as a mirror of history. Helnwein’s art knows no taboos. His work touches the viewer deeply, possibly even going so far as to evoke disgust. In any case, the observer will not be left cold.
Among the impressive list of people in the portraits between 1987 and 1991 was Michael Jackson.
In 1992 Gottfried Helnwein and his family moved to the United States to outrun the attacks upon his character. Here, without being perceived or recognized from outside, they could devote themselves at their own pace to their Scientology studies. They could make new contacts, meet like-minded long-term friends and develop new art projects or look up other stars in Los Angeles whom Gottfried Helnwein could integrate into existing projects, such as “Idols of the 20th Century” or “Faces.”
A close artistic relationship occurred in this way with Michael Jackson. One thing that certainly played a role in this connection was that Michael’s wife at the time, Lisa Marie Presley, was and is a fervent Scientology adherent, as are the Helnweins, and, sometimes with her mother, often met with Helnwein in Los Angeles. The “Manor Hotel” in Hollywood was the ideal location and starting point for that.
“Michael Jackson was really interesting. He was very smart and very intelligent. I remember talking with him for an hour, and he brought Lisa (Marie Presley) along with him. So we talked about art and he was asking me about what techniques I use and telling me about what paintings he liked. And then he left. And Lisa looked at me and said, “Oh my god. He was totally normal. That’s amazing!” I mean, this is his wife saying this!”
Gottfried Helnwein and his wife spend time with Michael and Lisa Marie in Budapest, Hungary in August 1994. Michael was there for the filming of the HIStory teaser.
Michael had rent a whole hotel in Budapest for Lisa Marie and himself, Gottfried Helnwein and his wife. On each floor bodyguards were present. In the moments when they weren’t shooting the teaser they all went to visit several orphanages and children’s hospitals.
“Michael had a genuine interest in helping children”, Helnwein recalls. “Michael wanted to see the children who were the sickest. When he saw a child, almost green due to a liver disease, Michael sat there on the bed, holding and nourishing that child for over more than an hour”. “ When Michael heard that there was no money available for a transplantation, he ordered his team to do their best to arrange the best medical treatment possible. He made sure to pay for it all.”
Gottfried also mentioned that the hotel was surrounded by a hysterical crowd. “Police force were necessary to clear the way for their car. Fans were touching the car, looking through the windows to see a glimpse of Michael. Michael just enjoyed it all, like a child on christmas day.”
For the album booklet of HIStory Michael used two pieces of artwork from Gottfried Helnwein. For “Scream” song Michael used a watercolor, made in 1981. The painting is called “Das Lied / The Song” and can be found on page 33. For the song Little Susie Michael used a photograph, called “Lichtkind”. This photograph was part Serie Self-Portraits and Performances Vienna, 1970-1975, some hyper-realistic paintings of wounded or abused children. Helnwein created these during his study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1969 to 1973. This photograph can be found on page 37 of the booklet.
Following the death of Michael, Gottfried Helnwein remembers him:
“He is extremely beautiful, fragile and totally unearthly. I always had the feeling that he is not standing on the floor but slightly floating on air. Michael Jackson knows that he appears like that on others and he also knows how to employ it.”
Source: www.legendarymichaeljackson.nl/who-...gJ1TV08.twitter
Edited by ArcoIris - 20/7/2015, 01:13
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When I was working on my article of the HIStory album I came across the name Gottfried Helnwein. I had never heard of this man.
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